i'm the first united states senator i ever knew and i was down in washington hiring my staff and i got a phone call saying that my family had been in an accident. and just like you guys know by the tone of the phone call you just knew, didn't you? you knew when they walked up the path. you knew when the call came. you knew. you just felt it in your bones something bad happened. and i knew. i don't know how i knew but the call said my wife was dead, my daughter was dead, and i wasn't sure how my sons were going to make it. they were christmas shopping and a tractor-trailer broadsided them. it can and will get better. there will come a day, i promise you, and you parents as well, when the thought of your son or daughter or your husband or wife brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye. it will happen. >> of course mr. biden's sons did survive. they made full recoveries. you can see more of the vice president's speech on our website wusa9.com. >>> making news at 5:51, a couple and their daughter are recovering after being stranded when their small plane crashed in a